Re: [Az-Geocaching] Another Lie about Nasa..

    ----- Original Message ----- 
    From: HumNummaHumma 
    To: listserv@azgeocaching.com 
    Sent: Saturday, September 11, 2004 3:49 PM
    Subject: Re: [Az-Geocaching] Another Lie about Nasa..
    Yeah, I actually bought one of those space pens a few years back. They're really cool when you need to write on vertical surfaces or upside down. I never got to experiment with its claim that it could write underwater as well. Not sure when I would need that feature?
    Eventually, the pressure in the pen started gushing the ink out, so I would have a general mess every time I used it. Fischer was nice enough to send me a free replacement, but the same thing happened with that pen after six months. I have since lost it and haven't replaced it.
    Pretty cool pen, though.
    -Brent
    ShadowAce <hunting@shakabruddah.com> wrote:
      TEF writes:
      I was told this story as a kid by my neighbor who was for the most part
      correct with his stories
      When NASA was given the task of what the astronauts would write with in
      space, spent millions of dollars to come up with the ball point pen. While
      in Russia given the same question replied was ah we'll use a pencil.
      ---------------------------------------
      Now we get to see why it is so funny to sit and listen to some people.
      ---------------------------------------
      http://www.snopes.com/business/genius/spacepen.asp
      Fisher did ultimately develop a pressurized pen for use by NASA astronauts
      (now known as the famous "Fisher Space Pen"), but both American and Soviet
      space missions initially used pencils, NASA did not seek out Fisher and ask
      them to develop a "space pen," Fisher did not charge NASA for the cost of
      developing the pen, and the Fisher pen was eventually used by both American
      and Soviet astronauts.
      Here's how Fisher themselves described it:
      NASA never asked Paul C. Fisher to produce a pen. When the astronauts began
      to fly, like the Russians, they used pencils, but the leads sometimes broke
      and became a hazard by floating in the [capsule's] atmosphere where there
      was no gravity. They could float into an eye or nose or cause a short in an
      electrical device. In addition, both the lead and the wood of the pencil
      could burn rapidly in the pure oxygen atmosphere. Paul Fisher realized the
      astronauts needed a safer and more dependable writing instrument, so in July
      1965 he developed the pressurized ball pen, with its ink enclosed in a
      sealed, pressurized ink cartridge. Fisher sent the first samples to Dr.
      Robert Gilruth, Director of the Houston Space Center. The pens were all
      metal except for the ink, which had a flash point abo! ve 200°C. The sample
      Space Pens were thoroughly tested by NASA. They passed all the tests and
      have been used ever since on all manned space flights, American and Russian.
      All research and developement costs were paid by Paul Fisher. No development
      costs have ever been charged to the government.
      Because of the fire in Apollo 1, in which three Astronauts died, NASA
      required a writing instrument that would not burn in a 100% oxygen
      atmosphere. It also had to work in the extreme conditions of outer space:
      In a vacuum.
      With no gravity.
      In hot temperatures of +150°C in sunlight and also in the cold shadows of
      space where the temperatures drop to -120°C
      (NASA tested the pressurized Space Pens at -50°C, but because of the
      residential [sic] heat in the pen it also writes for many minutes in the
      cold shadows.)
      Fisher spent over one million dollars in trying to perfect the ball point
      pen before he made his first successful pressurized! pens in 1965. Samples
      were immediately sent to Dr. Robert Gilruth, Manager of the Houston Space
      Center, where they were thoroughly tested and approved for use in Space in
      September 1965. In December 1967 he sold 400 Fisher Space Pens to NASA for
      $2.95 each.
      Lead pencils were used on all Mercury and Gemini space flights and all
      Russian space flights prior to 1968. Fisher Space Pens are more dependable
      than lead pencils and cannot create the hazard of a broken piece of lead
      floating through the gravity-less atmosphere.
      Sightings: This legend was mentioned in an episode of NBC's The West Wing
      TV series ("We Killed Yamamoto"; original air date 15 May 2002).
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